What You Must Know About Estate Legal Fees
Video Transcript
Ray Hrdlicka – Host – Attorneys.Media
Let’s talk about the fee structure of estate planning.
You know, in my research for this interview, I saw a number of things that said flat fee, hourly, and of course scheduled amounts as different options. You know, it’s like an a la carte.
So, what is the norm?
Andrew Dósa – Estate Planning Attorney – Tacoma WA and Oakland, CA
I think the norm is probably a flat fee. What lawyers will do—as I do—is talk about a package. We don’t want to make it sound too commercial, but really that’s what it is. It’s a collection of documents.
What I advertise or advise for clients is that they would do a trust, a will, an advanced healthcare directive to take care of medical questions that arise later, and then the durable power of attorney for financial affairs in the short term before the person passes.
And that is complete. It should address all of your situation and maybe be a little bit duplicative, but it’s better to have a little bit of extra coverage for that.
That’s basically what you would get in a package. Some law firms just charge hourly, so it really depends. That means that if you visit with the lawyer because you keep changing your mind, well, the lawyer’s going to be simply keeping track of time, managing, and then making changes based on your goals.
And it really just depends on whether it makes sense for you to have an attorney do it on an hourly basis.
I would say for really substantial estates—when you’re talking really about millionaire status, or multi-millionaire status, I should say—unfortunately in California, a very poor couple can inherit a house and be multi-millionaires because it’s in the right neighborhood.
But for people that have lots of financial assets, and not just property, but lots of investments and business interests and things like that, you might want to do hourly because there’s just going to be a lot of planning and you may be thinking of different strategies.
And there are a lot more options for you. There are a lot more challenges.
Sometimes you do charitable trusts and you may create multiple trusts in that situation. But for the average person, it’s a little more straightforward.
So I usually just do the flat fee and everyone knows what’s involved.
The other thing I add, in addition to those four, is that if there’s any real estate, I’ll draft the grant deed to transfer the asset from them, from the two as individuals, to themselves as the co-trustees of the trust. That’s called funding the trust.
We can get to that next. And then I make sure that the deed is recorded.
That’s the best way you can avoid probate—that you change the title of all your assets from you as an individual to you as the trustee of your trust.
Andrew Dósa – Estate Planning Attorney – Tacoma WA and Oakland, CA
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